so that they caused ¹  the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he hears ²  the cry of the needy.

See my pain and suffering! Forgive all my sins! ¹ 

Before I was afflicted I used to stray off, ¹  but now I keep your instructions. ² 

lest they drink and forget what is decreed, and remove ¹  from all the poor ²  their legal rights. ³ 

Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you ¹  in the furnace of misery.

“You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. ¹ 

For evil does not come up from the dust, ¹  nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

“And now my soul pours itself out within me; ¹  days of suffering take hold of me.

For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ¹  he did not overlook ²  their cry for help ³ 

Why do you look the other way, ¹  and ignore ²  the way we are oppressed and mistreated? ³ 

Yet he protected ¹  the needy from oppression, and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.

It was good for me to suffer, so that I might learn your statutes.

I know, Lord, that your regulations ¹  are just. You disciplined me because of your faithful devotion to me. ² 

If I had not found encouragement in your law, ¹  I would have died in my sorrow. ² 

I am suffering terribly. O Lord, revive me with your word! ¹ 

All the days ¹  of the afflicted ²  are bad, ³  but one with ⁴  a cheerful heart has a continual feast. ⁵ 

Do not exploit ¹  a poor person because he is poor and do not crush the needy in court, ² 

I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; ¹  the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking. ² 

They sat in utter darkness, ¹  bound in painful iron chains, ² 

“O afflicted one, driven away, ¹  and unconsoled! Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.